Magnetic interlocking portable floor

ABSTRACT

The Magnetic Interlocking Portable floor may implement an interlocking tongue-and-groove method for holding panels together. The tongues may have a trapezoidal wedge shape for aligning the panels. The Magnetic Interlocking Portable Floor may implement magnets to assist the connection and alignment of the panels. Further, the magnets may hold the panels together. The use of magnets may prevent the panels from separating at the seams. The panels may include a base, such as hardwood plywood. Further, the panels may include any type of surface for dancing, such as hardwood or laminate.

RELATED APPLICATION

Under provisions of 35 U.S.C. §119(e), the Applicant claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/001,987, filed May 22, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference.

It is intended that each of the referenced applications may be applicable to the concepts and embodiments disclosed herein, even if such concepts and embodiments are disclosed in the referenced applications with different limitations and configurations and described using different examples and terminology.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to portable flooring.

BACKGROUND

In some situations, a venue may want to have a removable floor. For example, portable floors are commonly used for events like parties and weddings or conferences where there is no permanent dance floor available. Thus, the conventional strategy is to use removable panels, often with interlocking grooves. This often causes problems because the conventional strategy takes costly time and effort in aligning and securing the panels, and the grooves may separate if they are not secured properly. In addition to time costs, misaligned panels may cause a safety hazard.

BRIEF OVERVIEW

This brief overview is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This brief overview is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this brief overview intended to be used to limit the claimed subject matter's scope.

The Magnetic Interlocking Portable floor may implement an interlocking tongue-and-groove method for holding panels together. The tongues may have a trapezoidal wedge shape for aligning the panels. The Magnetic Interlocking Portable Floor may implement magnets to assist the connection and alignment of the panels. Further, the magnets may hold the panels together. The use of magnets may prevent the panels from separating at the seams. The panels may include a base, such as hardwood plywood. Further, the panels may include any type of surface for dancing, such as hardwood or laminate.

Both the foregoing brief overview and the following detailed description provide examples and are explanatory only. Accordingly, the foregoing brief overview and the following detailed description should not be considered to be restrictive. Further, features or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, embodiments may be directed to various feature combinations and sub-combinations described in the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various embodiments of the present disclosure. The drawings contain representations of various trademarks and copyrights owned by the Applicants. In addition, the drawings may contain other marks owned by third parties and are being used for illustrative purposes only. All rights to various trademarks and copyrights represented herein, except those belonging to their respective owners, are vested in and the property of the Applicants. The Applicants retain and reserve all rights in their trademarks and copyrights included herein, and grant permission to reproduce the material only in connection with reproduction of the granted patent and for no other purpose.

Furthermore, the drawings may contain text or captions that may explain certain embodiments of the present disclosure. This text is included for illustrative, non-limiting, explanatory purposes of certain embodiments detailed in the present disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a bottom view of a panel;

FIG. 2 illustrates an isometric view including the bottom of the panel;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of a panel;

FIG. 4 illustrates another side view of a panel;

FIG. 5 illustrates an isometric view including the top surface of an individual panel;

FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of a panel; and

FIG. 7 illustrates the panel connection mechanisms.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the display and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure, and are made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself.

Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps of various processes or methods that are described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, although steps of various processes or methods may be shown and described as being in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps in such processes or methods generally may be carried out in various different sequences and orders while still falling within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection is to be defined by the issued claim(s) rather than the description set forth herein.

Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail.

Regarding applicability of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6, no claim element is intended to be read in accordance with this statutory provision unless the explicit phrase “means for” or “step for” is actually used in such claim element, whereupon this statutory provision is intended to apply in the interpretation of such claim element.

Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.”

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While many embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subjected matter disclosed under the header.

The present disclosure includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in, the context of flooring, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to use only in this context. For example, the interlocking mechanism may be used for the combination of any other panel type.

Consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure, magnetic interlocking portable floor panels may be provided. The panels may be used by individuals or companies to easily and safely install and remove, for example, but not limited to, a dance floor at a given venue. Embodiments of this disclosure may use magnets to hold panels together. Further, embodiments of this disclosure may implement trapezoidal tongue-and-groove interlocking edges to align panels and prevent sliding and movement. A detailed view of the trapezoidal tongue-and-groove interlocking edges of the panels is illustrated in FIG. 7.

The base may be made from a material such as, but not limited to, for example, ½″ hardwood plywood. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a view of an embodiment of a panel base. A channel may be attached to each side of the base using a fastener such as a compression rivet. The channels may be comprised of two types. Each type is shown in FIG. 7. The first channel type may hold magnets, spacers and aluminum tongues. The second channel type may hold a magnetic metal, such as cold rolled steel, in a wedge or trapezoidal shape. When properly aligned, the magnets in the first channel style may line up with the magnetic metal wedge of the second channel to create the connecting force. Further, the edges of the wedge shapes of the corresponding channels will mate so that there may be no lateral (shear) movement.

Two of each channel may be attached to each panel in a symmetric fashion (rotational or linear symmetry). The corners of the channels may be reinforced with aluminum. The channels may attach to the base with blind rivets. FIG. 1 shows the panel with reinforced corners and blind rivet fasteners.

The surface of the panels may be, for example, but not limited to a typical dancing surface such as engineered hardwood or a solid colored acrylic material. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the surface of the panel. It may be attached using an adhesive or other fastening method.

A plurality of panels of varying sizes may be connected in a plurality of arrangements using the interlocking channels of the present disclosure. In this way, embodiments of this disclosure may be used to create, for example, a dance floor. Panels may be attached by aligning the tongue-and-groove trapezoids. The magnets may pull the panels together and hold the panels together before and during use. Tapered edge pieces, not described above, may be attached to cover the outer edges of the dance floor to prevent tripping and make the dance floor aesthetically pleasing. To remove the dance floor, the panels may be pulled apart and stored or transported.

All rights including trademarks, trade dress, product configurations, and copyrights included herein are vested in and the property of the Applicant. The Applicant retains and reserves all rights in the drawings and designs included herein, and grants permission to reproduce the material only in connection with reproduction of the granted patent and for no other purpose. 

1. An apparatus comprising: a panel comprising four edges, wherein a first edge of the panel comprises at least one of the following: magnets, spacers, and aluminum tongues, and wherein a second edge of the panel comprises an arrangement of magnetic metals in a trapezoidal shape, and wherein the first edge of the panel is configured to interlock with another panel's second edge.
 2. A system comprising: a first panel comprising a first set of edges, wherein at least one first edge of the first set of edges comprises an arrangement of at least one of the following: magnets, spacers, and aluminum tongues; and a second panel comprising a second set of edges, wherein at least one second edge of the second set of edges comprises an arrangement of magnetic metal in a trapezoidal shape, wherein the arrangement of magnetic metal is configured to interlock with the at least one first edge.
 3. A portable floor comprising: a first panel having a first channel, the first channel comprising an arrangement of at least one of the following: magnets, spacers, and aluminum tongues; and a second panel having a second channel, the second channel comprising an arrangement of magnetic metal in a trapezoidal shape, wherein the arrangement of magnetic metal is configured to interlock with the arrangement of the first channel to form a continuous portable flooring comprised of the first panel and the second panel. 